Meeting the Challenge
The Eighth Annual Women’s Conference
on the Middle East

Sponsored by the Women’s Federation for World Peace, International

Women’s Federation for World Peace- Japan

Co-sponsored by the CSWNGO Working Group on Peace, Geneva

The 8^th ‘Women’s Conference for Peace in the Middle East’ was convened on May 9-12 in Geneva, Switzerland, a city known as the City of Peace. Sessions on the May 10-11 were held at the United Nations. This conference series, which had, until this year been an annual regional gathering in the Middle East was brought to the global platform of the United Nations for the first time this year. Forty Middle Eastern women leaders in the areas of politics, law, media, education, academics, and non-governmental organizations were invited to address the issues of their region with the experts from the United Nations Agencies, the government representatives and the many international NGO’s based at the UN. At the opening banquet, Mr. Jean-Luc Chopard, chief of protocol, extended a message of welcome to the participants on behalf of the Geneva State Government and it’s President, M. Robert Kramer. Citing Geneva as a place of hope, peace and action, he said that “even though the last century has witnessed tremendous progress in the scientific and technical field. For the honor of mankind, we should also be capable of progress in the field of human relations”. Mrs. Conchita Poncini, President of the CONGO Committee on the Status of Women- Geneva outlined some of the critical issues that the NGO’s working in the area of human rights are dealing with and extended wishes for a productive meeting on behalf of the NGO community.

The Opening Plenary began with remarks from Prof. L.Y.M.Pak, Pres. of WFWP International and H.E. Mrs. In’am Al-Mufti, Senator of Jordan, co-chairs of the conference. Mrs. Moon applauded WFWP International Coordinator for the Middle East, Mrs. Hisae Kobayashi, for her leadership for the decade of humanitarian and educational activities that WFWP-Japan has been sponsoring throughout the Middle East. “Like everyone else, we uphold the universal wish of every human being, which is to help create a safer and more peaceful world for our children and posterity”. Mrs. Al-Mufti noted that our common future will depend on the “extent to which people and leaders around the world can develop the vision of a better and safer world, the strategies, institutions and the will to achieve the vision, We must each ask, ‘what is our role and how can we properly prepare our children for their future responsibilities’”.

The Welcoming Speech of the Swiss Foreign Minister, H.E. Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey, a tireless advocate for both issues of the Middle East and women’s empowerment was read by the Swiss Ambassador to the UN, H.E.Mr. Jean-Marc Boulgaris. The Keynote Speech was delivered by video from H. E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt and Founder of the “Women’s International  Peace Movement”. She opened her discourse by saying that she chose to focus on the many positive advances and expressed her “gratitude to all those women and men who have continued to raise consciousness of the imperative of peace”. We must consider above all “the fundamental need for human security, which is indispensable, if one is to be given a fair chance to realize their potential and fulfill their aspirations and dreams!” The room was overfull, with close to 150 participants, including Ambassadors (notably 5 women Ambassadors), several heads of UN Agencies, representatives of UN programmes, governments and international NGO’s.

The Opening Session’s Panel, titled “Women’s Contribution to Peace in the Middle East” was facilitated by Carolyn Handschin, WFWPI, Deputy Director for UN Relations, who introduced the 5 panelists. In his statement, Dr.Bertrand Ramcharan, Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted the difference that women’s input had made in global situations of conflict and voiced the need to support those efforts. Prof. Feride Acar, President of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), outlining the work of her own committee in assisting women to end discrimination and become empowered as facilitators of change. She urged all participants to lobby governments to ratify the CEDAW Convention, even if with reservations.

Ambassador Najat Al-Hajajji (Libya), President of the Human Rights Commission (2003) noted the importance the exercise of all Human Rights, including a nation’s right to self-determination. “Lasting peace is the comprehensive peace based on justice and equality”. Dr. Aleya Hammad, former Executive Director of WHO/Women’s Health and co- founder with Mrs. Mubarak of the ‘Women for Peace’ NGO Network was also among the panelists. Dr. Yvonne von Stedingk , presented the case studies of 2 NGO’s who work with ‘Education for Peace’ programmes in the Middle East that bring children of conflicting sides together to work out their traumas. Students learn about common roots and aspirations of one another and to develop an appreciation of their cultural diversities.

H.E.Mrs. Oya Talat, wife of the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus and the President and co-founder of the Patriotic Women’s Union was the last speaker of the panel. She invited her long-time friend and colleague, Nadina Theodorou, a Greek Cypriot, to join her at the table as she spoke about the investment of women and peace initiatives over the years in their divided nation. She spoke about the very recent bitter disappointment for peace activists of both sides when the referendum for unification failed due to the mistrust of the Greek Cypriots, however, assuring us that their will is unbroken.

WFWP-Japan presented a video on “Women behind the Scenes”, a look into the Middle Eastern Conference Series and the many educational and humanitarian activities that WFWP has organized throughout the region. The commitment and creative energies of women volunteers from Japan have expanded into a network of support that now involves whole families and communities in Japan in their outreach.

Panel Session Two: The “Role of Women in Creating a Culture of Peace”.

The first speaker was Ms. Rama Enav, an Israeli representing Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO) at the United Nations in Geneva. She detailed the work of women and women’s organizations in Israel to give women a voice, to educate and train them in leadership roles and to sponsor their pursuit of peace through seminars and projects that enjoin Israeli and Palestinian women and youth. Ms. Siham Hillis, a Palestinian recruitment officer for U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) informed the audience about the two projects that were organized for the Palestinian children of the Ramallah Refugee camp following the 7^th Middle Eastern Women’s conference last year in Cyprus. She spoke of the longing of Palestinian and Israeli women for peace, noting the specific ways that women there can contribute to creating a culture of peace and the impediments to that realization. The 3^rd and final speaker of the session was Ivette Abi Nader, an educator and journalist in Lebanon. Recognizing the crucial role that women have in nurturing and guiding our future leaders, she noted the value of volunteerism and character education as a central aspect of education. In spite of the centuries of rule by brute force, she pointed to the instrumental role historically that individual women have played in laying the foundations for peace today. 

Panel Session Three:  “Women’s Initiative and Middle East Peace”

The first speaker, H.E. May Abu-Alsamen, a Jordanian Senator said that women’s organizations working in Jordan has doubled since 1990 and they bring a new breadth, quality and balance of vision into the political and civil society arena. Individual members of the royal family as well as the government institutions have made great effort to introduce a conceptual matrix for culture of peace and training of women as facilitators of the process. Dr. Kawthar Al-Jouan, a Kuwaiti lawyer and director of the “Women’s Institution for Development and Training” outlined the historic struggle of women of her country to gain their rights to vote and be represented in the parliament in spite of their having achieved leading positions in other fields. As president of the lobbying committee for women’s political rights, she chose members carefully from both genders and orchestrated a media campaign to put all views clearly on the table that a just decision is taken. The final speaker, Dr. Amal Osman, V.P. of the Egyptian Parliament and professor in law, highlighted the role of women in preventative diplomacy. Their talent should be better used as intermediaries in limiting escalation of disputes, reconciliation and in mobilizing civilians. She said that although conflict in her region has damaged social development and women’s aspirations, women’s organizations, most recently her First Lady’s, have exerted considerable influence on public policy and respect of law.

Panel Session Four:  “The Role of Middle Eastern Women in Creating a World of Peace”     

Dr Lubna Al-Kazi, a professor at Kuwait University focused her discourse around the ways that Kuwaiti women work to ‘spread a culture of tolerance’ in spite of the ‘mistrust, competition, and insecurity (that) has harmed the social and moral fabric of life’. Mrs. Ehteram Malakouti Nejad, the Executive Director of the Support Network for Single Women in Iran pointed to the link between family values and an responsible civil society. After detailing the originally intended role of the UN, she proposed that if women alone have difficulty to stop war, they can find ways to support the work of the United Nations. The final panelist was Ms. Naima Al-Shayji, working now as an international consultant in Kuwait and has worked for many years in different agencies within the UN system.

Panel Session Five: The Pieces of Peace: Practical Steps Women Can Take towards a Peaceful World

The first panelist, Ms. Nadina Theodorou has been working for the last twenty years in Cyprus as a volunteer with seriously ill children, with leukemia, or children victims of domestic violence, living under the protection of social services in special homes. She described her experience in working together with Siham Hillis (UNRWA officer in Gaza) over the past year to bring a group of 8-10 year-old orphaned Palestinian refugee children to Cyprus to ‘experience a peaceful environment’. Few eyes were dry as she gave details of the joy of the children whose lives have not known the beauty of nature or the caring of others outside their community. Although their have been visits from Israeli children to Cyprus sponsored by the government, Palestinians hadn’t been free to travel. Generous financial donations, hospitality, special outings, music and dance lessons, sportswear and clothing from many Greek Cypriots contributed to what Mrs. Hillis described as a ‘rare and wonderful experience that gave the children a hope-filled vision for the future. The next panelist was Mrs. Leila Barakat, Founder and

Chairwoman of the New Woman’s Society in Egypt. She reported about the work of her NGO to invite Palestinian children to Egypt and the encouraging support of many Egyptians to make it possible. She, too, had heard Mrs. Hillis’ description of live in the Gaza Refugee Camps at the WFWP Middle Eastern Women’s Conference last year. The final speaker was Mrs. Evelyn Zachary, who is the Chief of the Social Services Division at UNRWA Headquarters in Amman, Jordan. Her very informative and startling exposé went into great detail about the historic achievements and ongoing commitments of her agency to bring a better standard of living to the Palestinian Refugees. She gave insight into health services, education (achieved gender parity), relief services, micro-finance/enterprise programmes and home demolition relief especially as they relate to civilian women living there.

Interactive Sessions/ Proposals

During the time allotted for questions and comments, there were lively, even heated exchanges at times. Notably, the participants seemed to sense when it was getting into a political and divisive debate and often corrected themselves, with conference theme in mind. Although it was clear that certain basic ‘facts’ had to be put on the table in order to address root causes, the organizers encouraged consensus-building and forward-looking strategies. Throughout the sessions, there seemed an evolution in the ability to “receive” the other, a kind of progressive reconciliation that is not easily won. Being the 8^th of this series of conferences on issues of Middle Eastern women, the framework of trust and honesty that has been built over the years has surely influenced the outcome.

The conference closed with proposals for the creation of several joint activities. These included a regional conference for empowerment of women to be co-sponsored by WFWPI in Iraq and a continuation of the projects for children in cooperation with the Ramallah Refugee camp in Palestine. A support network for schools in the region was proposed that would work with education for peace curriculum, and, where possible, democracy education, as well as a possible project to give youth from the Middle East an experience in international diplomacy through children’s congresses or other means. Also proposed was the establishment of a task force to identify projects for ‘Poverty Eradication for Peace’ and research into the best way to promote “1325 Advocacy” in each country. Follow-up to the proposals will be reported at the 9^th MEW Conference in spring 2005. WFWPI’s President, Mrs. L.Y.M. Pak invited the participants and their organizations to join in a series of projects on women’s empowerment training and reconciliation as well as an international women’s rally for peace in Jerusalem over the next few months. This ongoing outreach to the women in Palestine and Israel is an attempt to understand their situation, show solidarity and to help build bridges towards reconciliation and reconstruction. The worldwide activities of WFWPI, which works to empower women, strengthen families and reinforce commitments to building a culture of peace in more than 100 countries, was recognized in the closing statements by chair, HE In’am Al-Mufti.  

(Carolyn Handschin-Moser, WFWPI,  Deputy Director UN Relations)